Sekhukhune United confident of overcoming Orlando Pirates, says Papi Zothwane

Sekhukhune United head coach Papi Zothwane says his side are confident they can beat Orlando Pirates, despite losing all three of their meetings with the same opponents this season.

Sekhukhune travel to the Orlando Amstel Arena to face Pirates, with a place in the semi-finals at stake. The venue has become a fortress under coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, but Zothwane insists his players must not be intimidated by the challenge.

“Every team that you play against your approach is to be better than the other team. At the Arena there’s always going to be intimidation, but we prepare our players mentally to know what’s at stake,” he said.

Zothwane believes the result of their previous matches against Pirates will not influence his team’s mindset. He said the coaching staff had prepared the players to approach the contest positively rather than fear the occasion.

“You know that if you win at the Arena, we’re in the next round, we know what we’re coming up against, we’re confident, there’s no coach who can approach a game with fear, you have to be confident in yourself and your approach,” he added.

The Sekhukhune coach said his team have faith in their ability to produce the required performance and progress to the next round.

“We believe in our players to win matches. We believe our approach on Saturday will take us through. We always have confidence and arrogance to say we are better and have the belief that we can win the match.”

The game at eSgodini will kick off at 15h00 this afternoon.